The annual Hall of Fame induction is a celebratory event, with theater veterans and their friends reminiscing and sharing funny war stories. But this year's, last night (see my account of the ceremony, "Theater Hall of Fame honors August Wilson, seven others"), had also a somber undertow. It's not just that two of the eight inductions were posthumous -- that isn't unusual -- but that they were the two most fervently respected, August Wilson and Wendy Wasserstein, and they died so young, just 60 and 56.

Add the tribute that I was honored to deliver for Henry Hewes, a dear friend who died last July at 89, and the four long-deceased veterans inducted by friend and CMU grad Jeffrey Eric Jenkins, and the evening had a definite tinge of memento mori.

	Gathering at Sardi's: Sakina Ansari, Tamara Tunie and Joan Marcus, Pittsburgh natives all. Click photo for larger image.

But there was also a lot of the usual talk with friends, continuing into the later evening over post-induction drinks and dinner at the Sardi's party arranged with his usual attention to detail by Terry Hodge Taylor, Hall of Fame executive director.

I was able to bag a few Pittsburghers, as is my custom. The biggest surprise was Homestead native and CMU grad Tamara Tunie, who's been playing Dr. Melinda Warner on "Law & Order: S.V.U" for the past seven years and Jessica Griffin on "As the World Turns" for the past four, with segues to Broadway ("Julius Caesar" with Denzell Washington). The surprise is, with all that, she also finds time to be a producer -- of this year's musical, "Spring Awakening" (25th producer listed out of 27, but it's a start) and of the upcoming Broadway run of August Wilson's "Radio Golf," where she'll have a more major role.

Wilson's induction brought his widow, Constanza Romero, from Seattle, looking great after what must have been a very hard time, starting with the diagnosis of his fatal cancer in spring, 2005, and continuing after the cataclysm of his death that Oct. 2. She was gracious and seemed at peace. Wilson's death has certainly been as hard on his adult daughter, Sakina Ansari, also attending. A Pittsburgh native, of course, she now lives in Baltimore.

	Hall of Fame board member Rita Goldberg, left, with Marion Seldes, center, and Jane Hewes. Click photo for larger image.

Other Pittsburghers included Joan Marcus, the monarch of Broadway photographers, there with her Brit husband, p.r. dean Adrian Bryan-Brown, who seemed inordinately smug about having been in Pittsburgh only three times in his life, which I'd consider a deprivation.

Anne Kaufman Schneider isn't exactly a Pittsburgher, but we co-opted her years ago in honor of her father, Hall of Fame playwright/director George S. Kaufman. And Kathleen Raitt, a fellow member of the Hall of Fame board, surprised me by declaring herself to be from Beaver.

Among those with connections to August Wilson were Jackson Bryer of the University of Maryland, who has just co-edited "Conversations with August Wilson," a valuable collection of interviews. He's also involved in "Tell Your Story," a big interdisciplinary conference on Wilson to be held at Maryland, March 9-11.

	Beaver meets Homestead: Kathleen Raitt and Tamara Tunie. Click photo for larger image.

Constanza Romero was sitting with James Houghton, founding Artistic Director of the Signature Theatre Company, which is two-thirds of the way through its August Wilson season. Next up is "King Hedley II" (Feb. 20-April 15), to be directed by Pitt grad Derrick Sanders, assisted by Wilson's close friend and dramaturg, Duquesne University grad Todd Kreidler.

Mainly, I talked with Jane Hewes (Henry's widow) and her sons, Tucker and Henry, and my New York daughter Celia. As the cliche has it (and it's true even if it is a cliche), the theater is a family. As in any family, you lament those you lose and treasure more those who survive.

Jenkins said it well in his veterans' committee report: "it is important that we remember these names -- like magic lanterns to light the way."